Austria

Chronology of Coverage

Mar. 7, 2015

Austria’s Art Restitution Advisory Board issues nonbinding recommendation that government keep possession of Gustav Klimt's Beethoven Frieze; wants it to remain at Vienna Secession building rather than be given to heirs of Erich Lederer, who sold it to government in 1972. MORE

Feb. 26, 2015

Austria's Parliament issues law banning foreign funding for country's Islamic organizations and requiring that Muslim groups use standardized German translation of Quran; dictate, seen as offensive by some Muslims, is grudgingly accepted. MORE

Feb. 23, 2015

Waldorf Astoria's Viennese Opera Ball celebrates 60th anniversary of the signing of the Austrian state treaty, agreement that officially ended allied occupation of Austria following World War II; event features 71-year-old Jeep that was used to patrol the occupied territory. MORE

Feb. 12, 2015

Braunau Am Inn Journal: city of Braunau Am Inn, Austria, is trying to decide what to do with vacant building where Adolph Hitler was born; city hopes to come up with use for structure that will help overcome its tainted legacy. MORE

Jan. 15, 2015

Austrian authorities are trying to determine whether they can seize house where Adolf Hitler was born; unidentified owner has not responded to offers from government to purchase house. MORE

Jan. 4, 2015

Dec. 17, 2014

Austrian forensics experts say they will need at least two months to see if they can identify victims of apparent massacre of 43 trainee teachers in Mexico; victims were abducted by corrupt police officers, and their bodies incinerated by drug gang members. MORE

Nov. 29, 2014

Austrian police arrest 13 people suspected of recruiting fighters for radical Islamic groups in Middle East after search of homes and mosques uncovers terrorism-related propoganda material and unspecified computer data. MORE

Oct. 30, 2014

Austrian authorities say they have arrested 14-year-old boy on suspicion of planning to place bomb in a Vienna's Westbahnhof train station and may charge him with with belonging to terrorist organization. MORE

Oct. 25, 2014

Austria unveils new monument dedicated to thousands of Austrians who deserted from the German Army during World War II, marking a new step in efforts to acknowledge the nation’s wartime past. MORE

Jul. 23, 2014

Austrian energy company OMV and its chief executive Gerhard Roiss find themselves in difficult position as European Union weighs tougher sanctions against Russia in wake of downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17; OMV had recently signed natural gas pipeline deal with Gazprom; OMV's predicament illustrates difficulties of easing energy chokehold that gives Russia so much leverage in EU. MORE

Apr. 20, 2014

Freelance journalist Stephan Templ has been convicted of defrauding the Austrian state by willfully omitting his estranged aunt Elisabeth Kretschmer from restitution claim he made in 2005; depending on one's viewpoint, case is an example of wrongful imprisonment, naked avarice or how feuds among multiple heirs can undermine justice in Holocaust restitution cases. MORE

Mar. 27, 2014

European banks are caught in financial and geopolitical crossfire as Western allies seek to impose sanctions on Russia following crisis in Crimea; are vulnerable to Russia for about $194 billion, compared with about $37 billion for American banks; problem is especially difficult for Austrian banks that pushed aggressively into the newly open markets of Eastern Europe following dissolution of the Soviet Union. MORE

Oct. 16, 2013

Heirs of Jewish art collector Erich Lederer are seeking restitution for Gustav Klimt's Beethoven Frieze, which Lederer was forced to sell to Austrian government after World War II at deep discount in order to obtain export licenses for his other artworks. MORE

Sep. 30, 2013

Austria’s two biggest political parties, the Social Democrats and the Austrian People's Party, make worst showings in decades in national election, losing votes to array of smaller parties, but retaining enough seats in Parliament to stay in power. MORE

May. 23, 2013

European Union inches closer to ending bank secrecy when Austria agrees to eventually start sharing personal bank account information with other countries, as long as similar rules also apply to tax havens like Switzerland that are not part of 27-nation bloc. MORE

May. 9, 2013

Austria faces renewed pressure to reveal more about tax evaders after European Union calls for automatic information sharing to apply more widely and rapidly within bloc; lack of single tax authority has long allowed country to make tax affairs more opaque than other members. MORE

Apr. 13, 2013

Austrian Finance Min Maria Fekter says her country will not drop its banking secrecy rules, defying growing international attempt to root out tax havens on the Continent; Fekter accuses Britain of hypocrisy, noting that several tax havens like the Cayman Islands remain under its control yet outside European oversight. MORE

Mar. 27, 2013

Up to 100 vehicles collide on snow-slicked stretch of highway about 40 miles west of Vienna, leaving one person dead. MORE

Mar. 23, 2013

Saturday Profile of Rev Helmut Schuller, who has reputation as one of leading rebels within Austrian Roman Catholic Church; Schuller is one of organizers behind group of more than 400 priests and deacons who in 2011 issued 'Appeal to Disobedience,' which called for reforming church practices. MORE

Mar. 4, 2013

Team Stronach, Austrian pro-business and anti-euro political party, wins state parliament seats in Carinthia and Lower Austria, building momentum for national elections in the fall; party was founded by Austrian-Canadian auto-parts magnate Frank Stronach. MORE

Feb. 3, 2013

Jan. 21, 2013

Nearly 60 percent of Austrian voters reject referendum seeking to change traditional system of compulsory military service for all 18-year-old men to smaller, more mobile professional force; many say that they believe that country is better served by defense filled with conscripts. MORE

Dec. 10, 2012

Expected merger of Austrian mobile carriers 3Austria and Orange Austria could set precedent that would make other telecommunications takeovers easier, potentially fulfilling a long-predicted consolidation of the industry in Europe. MORE

Dec. 9, 2012

Spectators and skiers from all over the world travel to Rettenback glacier in Solden, Austria, every October to watch first World Cup race of season and enjoy luxuriant resorts, hearty fare and the thrill of the slopes. MORE

Jun. 27, 2012

Austrian fund to compensate victims of Nazi persecution will shut down after paying out $210 million for just a fraction of its recognized claims; fund cites limited finances. MORE

May. 3, 2012

Austria will join a growing list of European countries and institutions whose leaders are planning to boycott soccer championship matches in Ukraine in protest of the imprisonment of Yulia V Tymoshenko, a former prime minister; her supporters believe she has been targeted for reprisals by her main political rival, Ukraine’s president, Viktor F Yanukovich. MORE

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February 26, 2015, Thursday

A 71-year-old Jeep rolled in, and later out, at the Viennese Opera Ball at the Waldorf Astoria on Friday, a charity gala that was celebrating the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Austrian state treaty.

On Friday, Standard & Poor’s cut the ratings on nine of the 17 European countries that use the euro currency. France and Austria lost their coveted AAA ratings, which were lowered one notch to AA+, and Italy and Spain had their ratings cut by two notches. Germany, Finland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands all retained their AAA status, while the ratings of Portugal and Cyprus were cut to junk.